A new eosimiid from the latest middle Eocene in Pondaung, central Myanmar

Abstract

A new species of eosimiid primate, cf. Eosimias paukkaungensis sp. nov., from the latest middle Eocene of Pondaung, central Myanmar is described. The specimen consists of left and right mandibular fragments preserving only the M3, so that its generic status is provisional. The cf. E. paukkaungensis fossil is much larger than homologues of the two Eosimias species from China. It is too large to be a mandible for the taxa represented by the Eosimias-like calcaneus from Pondaung, but smaller than Bahinia pondaungensis, another eosimiid of the Pondaung fauna. The discovery of cf. E. paukkaungensis indicates diversity of eosimiids in East and Southeast Asia during the middle Eocene. © 2005 The Anthropological Society of Nippon.